Flanked by a bevy of beaming elected officials, Mayor Lori Lightfoot stood at the podium in her briefing room and gestured toward the traffic rumbling through the Loop on streets below.

“I bet there is not a person in the room or watching who has not been stuck in Downtown traffic,” Lightfoot said. “There is a clear correlation between increased congestion Chicago and the growth of ride-hailing companies.”

Ride-hailing use in Chicago has grown 271 percent in recent years, Lightfoot said, her voice dripping with incredulity. 

As part of her 2020 budget proposal, Lightfoot will ask aldermen to put a premium on single rides that start or end in an area that includes the Central Business District, the Near North Side and West Loop.